1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the sheet metal forming of shapes for the aerospace and related industries.
2. Description of Prior Art
There are factories and subcontractors who produce sheet metal parts from blanks using draw dies mounted in large hydraulicly operated presses. Some form parts from the blanks using drop hammers. There are factories and subcontractors who form various flat patterns using large hydro presses. There are factories and subcontractors who manipulate and form tubing, piping and ducting using a multitude of machines to do same.
Although they have established a successful history, they suffer from some disadvantages:
They suffer from the expense of having to amortize the cost of several machines and the use of excessive factory floor space.
The standard for draw dies and drop hammer ides is to use a female die and a male punch. The material is trapped between the two and the male punch is translated forcing the material into the female die.
Drop hammers suffer from recent environmental studies that show that the lead dies emit toxic particles into the air during use.
Piping for aerospace is usually formed using expensive rollers and so called snakes to form bends in piping and ducting.
Piping that can not be formed using rollers and snakes are usually made by forming half stampings and welding the pieces together.